2010-11 Bowl Numbers Game

Over a week removed from the BCS National Championship Game, here is a look at how college football bowls performed during the 2010-11 season.35 college football bowl games averaged approximately 6.1 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, FOX and CBS during the 2010-11 season, down from 6.6 million for 34 bowls last year.

Of those 33 bowls that can be compared to last season, 22 had declines in ratings and viewership. That includes all five games of the Bowl Championship Series, which aired on cable network ESPN for the first time.

Even in a down year, five bowls had increases of at least 50% in ratings and viewership — the Insight Bowl (up 450% in ratings and 429% in viewership), Music City Bowl (up 147% and 155%), Outback Bowl (up 103% and 119%), New Orleans Bowl (up 86% and 111%), and Las Vegas Bowl (up 50% and 51%).

Overall, ten bowls had double-digit increases in ratings and viewership.

On the flip side, 17 bowls had double-digit declines in ratings, and 16 had double-digit declines in viewership. Among those seventeen are the Capital One Bowl, Gator Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game, all of which moved from broadcast TV to ESPN.

The seven bowls that made the shift from broadcast to cable (the aforementioned four, in addition to the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls) had declines. The sole bowl to move from cable to broadcast, the Outback Bowl, had a previously mentioned increase of over 100%.

One of the newest bowls, the Pinstripe Bowl, ranked 20th in viewership out of the 35 bowls. Ratings and viewership for the TicketCity Bowl on ESPNU were not available.